Wasteland
by Makesushi
Summary: It starts off with one person, foaming at the mouth in a busy street. Then it becomes two, then four, then sixteen, thirty two, sixty four. If spreads through bite, through bad water. It doesn't take long until the whole country is in wide spread panic. Power is out, unless you have a generator. Separation from family means you'll never see them again. (Full summary inside)
1. Chapter 1

**_Summary:_** **It starts off with one person, foaming at the mouth in a busy street. Then it becomes two, then four, then sixteen, thirty two, sixty four. If spreads through bite, through bad water. It doesn't take long until the whole country is in wide spread panic. Power is out, unless you have a generator. Separation from family means you'll never see them again. Friends will turn on friends, fathers and mothers against their children. Chaos and panic, as slowly the dead begin to out number the living. Soon...there are only a few hundred thousand people left, and the number drops lower, everyday.**

 _July 2nd, 2015: 15:31. Southern Calafornia._

Eren was asleep in his bed, with the T.V.'s soft glow, not seeming to bother him at all, that was, until the emergency warning started to blare, the loud beeps even more annoying then his alarm clock. He sat up quickly in his bed, his hair in his eyes. "Wha...?" He mumbled sleepily.

"...this is _not_ a drill..." Were the first words he managed to catch. "Please, stay in your homes. The American government has issued a state of emergency due to an unidentified disease out brake in the Ridgecrest era this morning at 12:03 this morning. Symptoms include: High fever, vomiting, swelling of the infected area, foaming of the mouth, then death. If you or a loved one is showing one or more of these symptoms, please call this number-"

Suddenly, his door was thrown open by his adopted older sister Mikasa. She had three backpacks with her, and Armin right behind her. "Eren!" She said, throwing one to him, while giving the other to Armin. "We need to leave now!" She rushed at him, and pulled him out of bed.

"Wait! Mikasa! What's going on?" He asked her, as the three of them rushed out of the house, and into the family's second car. Mikasa pushed him into the backseat without saying a word. Armin crawled in after him, while Mikasa climbed into the front seat.

"The end of the world, I guess." She said, as she was pulling out of the driveway.

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015, 4:46; somewhere in Southern California_

"Levi? What the hell _is_ that thing!?" Farlan Church asked, looking at his friend in panic. The 27 year old, was slowly backing away, from a woman, who was growling like an animal, as she crawled across the floor.

Isabel was screaming, while she swung her bat at a small boy, who jumped at her, his teeth aimed at her neck. The creature writhed around on the ground, unable to get up. It spit an hissed. She screamed again, when a creature, looking like a dead man, sunk it's teeth into her shoulder. "Oh _gods!_ " She screamed, swinging her bat, and smashing the man's head.

"Isabel!" Levi screamed, catching her as she fell the the ground. Her heart started to pound. "Farlan, get the truck ready to go!" He called over his shoulder, picking up his friend. " _Now!"_ He screamed again, his voice desperate. He laid her down in the truck bed, and jumped in after her. He put the blanket they kept in the tool box over her prone form. Farlan made sure to hit the woman on the way out.

"It's okay Isabel." He said, grabbing her hand. "Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 10:12; Somewhere in Southern California_

"Holy shit Sasha! Did you fucking _see_ what that thing was doing!" Connie Springer screamed for the thousandth time, his hands tightened around his bag, looking at his best friend with wide eyes.

" _Yes Connie!_ We _all saw_ what it was doing." Jean Kirstine said from the front seat, gripping the wheel of their crappy station wagon. "We all fucking _saw it_ rip our classmates to shreds."

"Jean..." Marco tried to calm him down. "There was nothing we could have done. Hell...if it hadn't been for Mr. MicMackly turning then...we wouldn't have been able to take his car. We wouldn't be..."

"We'd be dead." Sasha finished for him, her normally tan face strangely white. "Or...changed."

"Yeah." Marco sighed. He reached into his backpack, where there were only books, and papers, and pens. But underneath it all, there was a pack of donuts and a bottle of water. "We need to stop somewhere to get food. Gas too. This thing is gonna run out in a few hours.

"You're probably right..." Jean said, looking around the deserted road for a gas station. "What if we...see one of _them_ again though?"

"Well...we already learned, crushing the head keeps them down for good." Marco reminded him. He looked at his hands, where there were still little patches of blood. He'd killed his teacher. A man who had always tried his hardest to help Marco. ' _What kind of a monster_ am I _?'_

"What do you think's happening?" Sasha asked, laying her head against the window.

"Isn't it obvious?" Connie asked, looking at her, like he was offended. "Zombies. Uh, _duh._ Haven't you ever even _seen_ the movies."

"This isn't a _fucking_ movie." Jean said, slamming his hand against the dash.

"Yeah, I know that. I'm sorry man."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 13:20. Travailing down the 395 highway._

"Any news on the level of casualties?" Erwin Smith asked the scientist who sat in the back of the Jeep, with a huge smile on their face.

The question made them frown. "Depends, world wide, or nationally?"

"Both."

"It's been reported, that in our country alone, there are an estimated 1,230,00 infected. Of them, 100,000 have been disposed of, but the number keeps rising. World wide, they think...seven million."

"Holy shit." Mike said, his hands on his gun.

"Do we have any idea what caused this?" Erwin asked Hanji again, seeming to be unfazed by the numbers. He needed to think of a plan, and getting emotional wasn't going to help.

"Well...yes and no."

"Elaborate."

"We _know_ that the virus is spread through bite, but we don't know what caused patient zero to change."

"This is hell on earth." Mike said, watching as two girls, who only looked like they could be five years old, eat a raw deer on the side of the road. "Really, it is."

"You're telling me." The driver said, a stern woman, who refused to watch the grisly sight.

* * *

 _July 2nd, 13:25. Small cabin in the woods, border between Nevada and California._

"Le...vi?" The red headed woman asked, looking up at the blob in front of her. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. Levi had checked over an hour ago, and it was dangerously high. But there were no doctors, none that he could find anyways. They had visited seven hospitals, but every single one of them was overrun.

"Yeah, it's me, Izzy." He grabbed her hand, and held it tight. "I'm right here."

"Hurts." She said. She leaned over the couch they had put her on and vomited in the bucket. Levi was just glad she had stopped shaking.

"Is she getting any better?" Farlan asked, coming into the room with a tray of chicken broth.

"No, her fever's just getting worse."

"This doesn't make any sense. She was just _bitten._ It's not like she was injected with a dirty needle or something." He put the tray down on the table.

"Doesn't make sense, yet it's happening." Levi brushed her messy hair out of her eyes. He flinched. She was really starting to burn up. "I told her that everything was going to be alright...but..."

"Levi! You can't think like that, we need to stay positive."

"Farlan...you saw them too. They're everywhere. Whatever they've got, it's spreading _somehow_ so it's not really farfetched to say-"

"No! Levi, no, don't you dare. Don't you _fucking dare_ even _suggest_ something so awful. She's going to be just _fine_!"

"Yeah...you're probably right."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015, 13:25 Somewhere in Northern California._

"Mikasa!" Eren demanded the attention of his sister, who had been shaky and quiet for hours. They had stopped in a McDonald's parking lot twenty minuets ago, and were searching the abandoned store for food, money, anything they could need.

"What is it Eren?" She asked, her voice just as soft as ever as she loaded a bag full of burgers that had already been cooked.

"Why are you acting so weird? Do you know what's going on?" His voice was much softer. "Come on, Mikasa. Why were you so ready to go?"

"I..." She paused for a moment. "Before dad left on his trip...I saw a folder in his office. It said 'Operation Kie.' So I looked into it. Kie, is the name of a virus that was created in Berlin, during world war two, by the Nazis. I think Dad... had been looking for a cure."

Eren let out a gasp. "So you mean...that dad _knew_ what those things are? But he didn't _tell_ anyone?! There's no way that he'd-!" He cut himself off when he started to shout again. "There's no way he'd do something so cruel."

"Eren, I imagine that this is top secret. So secret that only the military and the government knows. It's not that he was doing it to be _cruel_ it's just that he wasn't allowed to say anything."

"But...what did you read from the file?"

"Not much." She turned on the deep fryer. "Just names, and dates. A few numbers, pictures ID's for the three people who were helping dad. But I knew...that whatever happened this morning when I woke you up, it was what I found in that folder. So I knew we needed to get somewhere safe."

"Where are we going then?" Armin asked, coming in from the back room, with a first aid kit in his arms. "I'm going to guess, that with how many of those things we saw, that it's not very _safe_ anywhere."

"We'll go somewhere, where there aren't a lot of people. Somewhere in the mountains or something."

"Yeah...yeah that makes sense." Armin nodded his head. "We should take the frozen stuff too. Bring a cooler or something. MacDonalds' food doesn't rot, you know."

"That's a good idea Armin."

"Wait!" Eren slammed his hand down on the counter. "What about mom and dad?! We can't just _leave_ them."

"Eren...mom is with dad. If anyone knows how to survive this, then they do. We don't need to worry so much about _them_ as we do about ourselves."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015: 13:51. The Nevada/California border._

"This is some bullshit!" A fifteen year old boy screamed, as he shot _another_ Walker in the face. He used the butt of his gun to hit another.

"Preaching to the choir Cody." Another said.

Cody smirked at his twin brother, who was fighting with all of his might, though that wasn't an impressive thing, considering how scrawny Kyle was.

"On your left!" He ordered his brother, who turned, aimed, then shot. Cody whistled. "Dad would be proud, little brother."

"You're literally ten minuets older then me." Kyle looked annoyed, casting his brother a dirty look, after killing another Walker.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, we got to get out of here, there are too many for us to fight off all on our own."

"You're right. Let's get back to grandad's house, we're not that far away. We'll reload our guns, turn on the generator, and batten down the hatches for a few days."

"Thank _God_ for crazy conspiracy theorists."

"Cody...now is _not_ the time to make jokes."

"Of course it is. If we get to melancholy in these kinds of times...well...there really wouldn't be a point in living, would there?"

The two of them ran through the trees, shooting at the odd Runner that chased after them. They got to their grandpa's house, but stopped when they saw a big truck in the front yard, that had run over their grandma's flower bed. They took out their hand guns, and approached the door slowly, waiting for someone to pop out. When no one did, Kyle took out the key, and unlocked the door, then slowly opened it.

They walked in, down the hallway, where they heard two people arguing.

 _"No! Levi, no, don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare even suggest something so awful. She's going to be just fine!"_

 _"Yeah...you're probably right."_

Cody cocked his gun, and aimed it at the one standing. "Alright, you have...exactly thirty seconds to tell us who the hell you are before I pull this trigger."

His brother looked at him, clearly disagreeing with his methods, until the short one pulled out his own gun, then it turned into a Mexican stand off.

"Who the fuck are you two?!" He demanded.

"Oh _no you don't_." The older twin said, pushing Kyle behind him. "This is _our house!_ " He grabbed the keys from his brother, and showed them to the men. "I think _I_ get to ask the questions around here."

"Your...house?" The blond one said, looking between the boys and the short man.

"Yeah, that's right, _our house._ If you're looking here to loot from us, I'll shoot you dead." He threatened.

"You ain't got the balls kid." The short man smirked.

"Try me. I had to kill my grandparents a few hours ago, because they tried to infect my brother, now you...a complete stranger, is aiming a gun at us. I'm on edge, and quite frankly, I'm terrified. People who are afraid...do some _fucked up shit_."

"Levi!" The other man seemed panic. "Put the gun down."

"Yeah _Levi,_ put the gun down." Cody said, his muscles tense.

"You too, Cody." Kyle told him, putting a hand on his brother's and tried to make him aim it at the floor. He looked at Levi and the other man, then back to his brother. "So many people have died today, please, _please_ don't add more to that list." He begged.

"Just...lower them at the same time then." The blond said to Levi, casting Kyle a grateful smile.

They did, but the glares didn't stop.

"Alright, let's just...start with names then." Kyle suggested, stepping out from behind his brother. "I'm Kyle, and this is Cody." He gestured to the boy, who was still glaring.

"Oh, I'm Farlan, and this is Levi." The blond came over to shake hands with Kyle. "The girl on the couch is Isabel."

"Okay then, Levi, Farlan, and Isabel." Cody said, his bad attitude shinning through. "Why the _fuck are you in our house_?"

"We...needed a place to stay for awhile. Our friend...she was-"

"Bitten." Kyle gasped, looking at the girl in fear. "She's...infected."

"She's _not_ infected!" Levi snarled.

"Our grandma...she was bitten by our grandad. It took nine hours, before she started to twitch and foam at the mouth. Before that, she got sick. Fever and vomiting. Does your friend have those symptoms?" Cody asked.

"Yes, but she's-"

"I'll just let you deal with it then." He cut Farlan off. "When she turns, _you're_ the ones who have to kill her." He sighed. It was hard to be cruel to them. He needed to stay strong so badly for his brother, when their grandma got up, and tried to kill him. Before that..grandad. He needed to keep Kyle's mind off of things. "In the meantime, how about some lunch? Oh, and don't drink the water by the way...that's how grandad went, and that change only took five minuets."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 14:04. Stopped at a 395 gasstation.  
_

"Okay Jean, be carefull, don't turn your back for too long." Marco said. He had grabbed a bat that the little place was selling. "Aim for the head."

"Yes Marco, thank you, I'm aware." The older teen sighed. "Okay, you get the food and gas, I'll get everything else."

"Like what?"

"Toilet paper, things to use as weapons, batteries, flash lights, first aid kit, things for Sasha when she...uh, well, you know."

"How considerate of you." Marco laughed softly, watching his friends muttering and walking off. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

He looked out the window. Connie and Sasha were in the car, looking terrified. He felt, protective over the two of them. Maybe it was because they were only freshmen, maybe it was because of how strong they were trying to be. He smiled and waved to them from the shop window. They waved back.

He walked away, and started looking through the store for gas cans. He found eight, and loaded them into a little cart. Then he went down the aisles with foods, his hand out, and started to push it all inside, alongside the gas. All the frozen dinners too, but none of the candy. He found a few ice coolers, and filled them with ice, for a place to put the T.V. dinners, and a small gas stove. Paper plates. He had to walk carefully, to make sure that he didn't drop anything.

Jean was done too, but was holding a shotgun with him. "I found it in a back room with a dead body, and like...I think twelve cases of bullets. Lucky find, right?" He smirked at his best friend.

"Yeah, let's fill up the car, and get this stuff in the back. We need to be on our way."

"You're right, come on, let's go."

"I want chips!" Was the first thing Sasha demanded, holding out her hands. Marco looked stunned, but nodded, reaching to grab her one of the Lay's bags. Jean snatched it from him, and dropped it into a plastic bag he was carrying. He handed it to Sasha. "Here...this stuff I got for you."

She looked through, and then blushed bright red. "Wow, never pegged you as man enough to get tampons Jean."

"Don't _say it."_ He shivered. He slid back into the drivers seat, and turned on the radio. There was nothing but static. He looked into the glove box and found a few Cd's. "Put these in." He ordered Marco, then started to back out. He saw one of those _things_ running towards the car, but he lost it quickly.

"So...where are we going?" Connie asked, taking a chip from Sasha.

"We're going...up to the mountains. I doubt there'll be as many people there, so less danger, you know. I figure it's a safe bet."

"Ohhhh, fun." The brown haired girl exclaimed. "We can be like...mountain men!"

"And we can make hats out of squirrels!"

"And I might be able to practice my bow-"

"This isn't a fucking game you two!"

"Jean!" Marco snapped. "They know that, okay. Just let them have their fun."

"Whatever... squirrel hats it is." Jean rolled his eyes while the two cheered.

* * *

 _July 12th, 20015; 15: 30, driving down the 395 highway._

Hanji was looking over their notes, biting their lip, and flipping through the pages frantically. Dr. Jeager's research had helped a great deal, but it still had so many holes in it, that it made Hanji want to pound away at the good man. They groaned, and threw their hands in the air. "This is just ridicules. There is just _no scientific way_ I can find, that helped this virus spread so fast, with only one person being the cause." They grumbled and kicked around in the backseat. "The only way I can think of is that it was _one person._ "

"Then it seems easy enough, there were multiple infected who had escaped the facility." Erwin said, trying to calm the scientist.

"But there _wasn't_!" Hanji moaned. "When Petra and Eld apprehended _those two_ they said that they _released_ only one experiment."

"Then...all of this was on purpose?" Mike asked, his face showing disgust.

"Yes...they released it last night."

"Maybe...it wasn't through the _patient_ that this virus is spreading so quickly?" Erwin suggested.

"Yes, I've thought of that too." Hanji moaned. "It's not airborne, or there'd be no people left at the rate it's spreading. My thought, would be through water."

"So...you die of thirst or you die of a bite?"

"No, I highly doubt it's _all_ water. Who ever started this project, would need water for themselves. And it wouldn't just be a large supply, they'd need some way to drink. I'm thinking, tap water, is the only water infected. A short supply, designed to wipe out as many people as they could, in a short time."

"That's _disgusting._ " The driver said, looking angry.

"One other thing I noticed." Hanji said, flipping to a page with a picture of a teenage boy on it. "See this boy, his name is Eren. Ere Jeager to be exact."

"Any relations to the doctor?" Erwin asked.

"Yes, Eren is his son." Hanji highlighted a paragraph. "Read this for me, Erwin."

He took it from them. " _August 19th, 2014: I was hesitant at first, when they told me to bring my son in. But they told me to have faith in them, and in the mission. So I did, and they have given me a gift. Eren thought he was going in for a few shot updates, but what they injected him with, was the 'cure.' He's got the virus in his blood, and with the cure injected with it, they say...that he's immune. That is my payment for doing this work._ "'

"So...this Eren Jeager kid...he's immune?" Mike asked, breaking the silence.

"That's what it sounds like." Hanji nodded their head. "I'm going to take a guess and say, that Eren Jeager, is the key to ending this nightmare."

"In that case, we need to find him, at any cost-" Erwin was cut off, when a car crashed into the side of the Jeep. The owner of the other car, looked out the window, with panic on their face. Quickly they sped off into the hills. Erwin was coughing, as the jeep had been turned on it's side. "C-Check in." He ordered, spitting blood.

"Mike, I've got a few cuts in my side from the window."

"Hanji...I think...my arm may be broken."

No one else answered. "Maria?" Erwin asked, looking down at the woman. She wasn't moving. He cursed, and laid two fingers on her neck. "Damn it." He cursed.

"Erwin...?" Hanji asked.

"It's Maria...she's...dead." He confirmed.


	2. Chapter 2

_July 2nd, 15:30; Small cabin in the woods, border between Nevada and California._

Cody looked down at the girl, who was starting to choke and foam at the mouth. The final stages. He sighed. It really wasn't fair, but then again...none of this was. "Levi, she's turning." He called over his shoulder, completely calm. Kyle gave him a sad look, while Farlan was screaming at Cody that 'she wasn't turning!'

Levi took a deep breath and slowly started to walk towards his friend. He sat down, with the gun in his hand. "Izzy, can you hear me?" He asked. She turned her head to him, nodding her head. She was crying. "Does it hurt?"

She nodded.

"I want you too know, that I always loved you like a little sister. Forgive me for this, okay Izzy. Because I'm doing what's best." He aimed the gun. He didn't give her the time to process what was happening before he pulled the trigger. There was a bang, then blood and brain matter splattered all over the couch and floor.

Farlan was screaming, sobbing, pounding his fist against the wall. Levi was crying, but mourning in a far more subdued way. He looked to his other friend. "Do you hate me?" He asked.

"No...no, of course not Levi." The two grown men hugged and cried over the body of their friend.

"We need..." Kyle looked at them nervously. "We need to dispose of the body, and all the blood. I'm not sure...but it's possible that the disease can spread through _all_ body fluids of the dead."

Levi wiped his eyes and nodded. "Go get me some sheets. I'll do it."

"Mr. Levi, you really don't have to-"

He cut Kyle off. "I'm going to finish this kid. Go get me some sheets, rubbed gloves, a bucket, and a few cleaning rags."

"Alright. Just wait here."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 15:59. Walking down the 395 highway._

"Where are we even _going_ Smith?" Hanji asked, brushing their long hair out of their eyes. They were sweating buckets, clutching their folders.

"A...gas station?" Erwin suggested, sweating just as much. He looked around him, but saw nothing. A few tricks of light made it seem like there was water not too far away. "We just have to keep moving." He told them, trying to help them walk. He and Mike were used to this, being in the military, they had been in heat far worse. But Hanji worked in a cool lab without having to do much strenuous work, so they would be half way to collapsing by then. He was worried about them getting too dehydrated and passing out. "Come on Hanji, we'll find something. Just keep going, one foot in front of the other."

They nodded, stumbling forward, trying to keep on their feet.

"Yeah, just like that Hanji, you're doing great."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 17:04. Somewhere in Northern Californian._

Mikasa frowned, turning the key in the ignition. It wouldn't turn over. She groaned, and hit her hand against her face a few times.

"What's wrong Mikasa?" Armin asked, looking at her with worry. He gently grabbed her wrist, to keep her from hitting herself again.

"The car won't start." She told him.

"O-oh...well, I'm sure if we find jumper cables or-"

"No Armin, it's not the battery." She groaned. "Look, just go wake up Eren, we don't have any other choice but to look for a new car." Mikasa got out, and started to look through the many stopped cars in the middle of the road. She looked in the windows, hoping that at least _one_ of them had keys still in them.

She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, trying to calm herself down. This was all really starting to get ridicules. Dead people all over the place, looters, she was sure that all over the country people were looting and murdering one another. She considered herself lucky. Her and her group had only run into three of those things. But she was ready at any second, for a large group of them to come out of nowhere.

It's a good thing she was.

"Mikasa!" She heard Eren scream. Armin was screaming too, swinging the rake he had brought with him.

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 17:19. Parked on the 395 highway._

Jean was filling up the car while the others were asleep in the car. It wasn't very late, only about five in the afternoon, but after a long day of avoiding zombis, of fighting zombies, and driving nowhere for hours, everyone was a little out of it. Jean rubbed his eyes tiredly. In a few hours, her was going to make Marco drive, so he could sleep.

He grabbed a granola bar from the trunk and ate it in a few bites. He cursed when he saw four of those things slowly making their way towards him. One of them seemed to sniff the air, let out a growl, then charged. "Fuck!" He yelled, grabbing the gun from the back and aiming it. He shot, the thing fell over, but didn't stop moving. It twitched on the ground, unable to stand back up.

Jean crawled back into the car. Marco and the kids had been woken up by the sound of the gun. Jean turned the car on, then hit the gas, leaving the monsters behind him.

"W-what's going on?" Sasha asked, her face pale, as she gripped onto Connie.

"Just a few of them, don't worry about it, we're safe now." Jean assured her. He started to drive slower, not wanting to get in a crash.

"Jean?" Marco asked suddenly, pointing out the window. "What's that?" He pointed at three people who were hobbling down the highway. One was grabbing onto the really buff one for dear life.

Jean pulled up closer to them. "Uh...you guys need some help?" He asked, getting ready to slam on the gas if they tried to rob the teens.

The one holding up the tan woman nodded his head. "Yes...yes some help would be very appreciated."

Jean nodded. "Sasha, Connie, sit in the back."

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 17:09. Somewhere in Northern Californian._

"Mikasa!" Eren screamed, swinging his bat down on the head of a child who was trying to claw off his face. "There are too many!" One rushed him again it grabbed his bat, and tried to take it out of his hands, while it snapped its jaws.  
Armin came up behind it and hit it a few times until he cracked its skull.

"Run!" She told them. "Just run!" She grabbed the two boys and started to sprint down the road. Many of the monsters started to fallow after them. But it was easier to deal with ten then it was to kill twenty. Mikasa swung and hit anything she could, sometimes only being able to knock them off their feet. The strange thing was, when they fell on their backs, they didn't seem able to get up again.

Eren hit one that was creeping up on her from behind. "Shit, Mikasa, what are we going to do without a car?" He asked, as they continued to run down the highway.

"We'll find one...don't worry." She promised, but secretly, she was wondering the same thing, but it wouldn't do anyone any good if everyone was panicking.

* * *

 _July 2nd, 2015; 16:50. Walking down the 395 highway._

Mike and Hanji looked a exhausted. In the end, he had to carry Hanji, but he needed to keep going. If he stopped, then he wasn't sure he'd be able to start again.

While they walked, there was the odd strangler that would try and attack, but either he or Mike would shoot it. The only place that seemed to be a instantiate kill was their heads. Anywhere else they would keep going, keep getting up, unless they landed on their backs.

He pushed on, preying that they might find somewhere soon, or Hanji would die. They needed water, and soon.

"Hanji?" Mike asked them, shaking them awake. "Hanji, you need to keep your eyes open, do you understand?"

They nodded, but leaned their head against Erwin's arm. "Yeah..."

"Good, just keep talking." Mike told them. "How about you tell us, why you think this virus is spreading so quickly. It was observed back at base camp that it took seven to ten hours for the infection to take over the host." 

"The...water." The whispered. "The water, if a million people drank water at the same time, they'd all become infected, then they'd bite people, and those people would change the normal way. It's just a theory but...it seems more likely then not."

"Yeah, how do you think they got the virus in the water?"

"A bribe...maybe? The virus would have to be something that can live in water. Seeing as how not _everyone_ is one of those creatures, I'm going to guess that this virus isn't airborne."

"That's good...at the very least." Erwin put in his two cents. "So, there's some hope then."

"Yeah..." They said, then slumped against Erwin, passing out.

"Shit!" Erwin cursed. "Hanji, fuck, wake up!"

"They're dehydrated." Mike said.

"I can see that, _thank you Mike._ " Erwin lifted Hanji off the ground, and held them upright. He looked up when he heard gunfire, and what sounded like a kid screaming.

"Fuck, we need to get out of here, _now._ " Mike told Erwin.

"But-"

Erwin was cut off, as the sound of an engine started to slow. An older car stopped near them, and four teenagers looked at them, ready to jump away at the first sign of trouble.

One of the older teens, the one behind the wheel looked at the three of them, taking in Hanji's passed out form. "Uh...you guys need some help?"

Erwin nodded his head rapidly. "Yes...yes some help would be very appreciated."

"Sasha, Connie, sit in the back." The teen ordered the two.

The two jumped into the trunk where there were three other seats. They stacked some stuff, then grabbed a few water bottles.

"We have room for one more back here." The girl said, handing Erwin a bottle of water. "The really tall one can sit with us, and then you make sure that she drinks some water. If you're hungry we have food...we robbed a gas station."

"We didn't _rob them._ " The one behind the wheal said. "They were all..." He cut himself off, and looked down at his lap.

Mike climbed in the back, sitting next to the boy with a shaved head. "Thank you...for stopping." The solider said. He helped prop Hanji up and put the bottle to their lips. They quickly grabbed it and drank it within seconds.

"Whoa there Speedy, slow down, you'll get a stomach ache." The bald kid said, handing Hanji another bottle of water. He fished out a few more and gave them to Erwin.

"So...who are you guys?" Marco asked, turning around in his seat.

"My name is Commander Erwin Smith of the United States Military." He pointed to the other man. "This is Lieutenant Commander Mike Zacarius." Then to Hanji. "And Professor Hanji Zoe. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Wow, fancy. What's the military doing poking around anyways?"

"Really Marco? You expect thousands of undead people to just pop out of the ground and for the government to do _nothing_ about it." Sasha said, clearly teasing him.

"Ah, heh. Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm stopping for the night." Jean said, pulling over into an abandoned parking lot. "We'll take watch, Connie and Sasha, you two go first." He handed Connie his shot gun. "Then we'll take you three wherever you need to go."

"Oh, thank you." Erwin said.

"Where are you going anyways?" Marco asked.

"Uh, we were going to a research center in Nevada." Hanji answered, having their first coherent words for the time since meeting the kids.

"No kidding?" Jean asked. "We were heading that way, we were thinking that it might be safer in the mountains. I guess we can go a little further to drop you off."

"That's very kind of you." Mike said, before he leaned over and sniffed Connie. The teen looked a little horrified. Mike smiled, nodding his head decisively.


End file.
